: re: Wrong Turn on Syria: Helping Assad?

To an American raised on two-party politics, it's hard to conceive the dimensionality of politics on the Middle East. Even our court system assumes that once two sides have been presented and weighed, we can reach Justice. That's contentious here, and laughable in the Middle East. There are, e.g., currently hundreds of factions who want Bashar al-Assad dead, each for their own (often valid) reasons, many of whom have no love for each other, either.

The formation of ISIS has done the U.S. one favor. By self-segregating, the most objectionable elements have purified the Free Syrian Army of the terrorists whom we cannot be seen supporting. It's not a matter of backing one side or the other, but rather of picking our allies from a menu of hundreds. So far, president Obama has come up with a credible list.